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As posted by SpaceX, here’s a summary of Starship’s 14^th flight from launch to orbit and return to Earth:

On Monday, September 28 at 7:48 a.m. CT, Starship lifted off from Starbase, Texas on its 14th flight and first attempt to go to orbit. This was the first orbital Starship flight and the first to deliver meaningful payload to orbit with 26 Starlink V3 satellites.

The mission began with the Super Heavy booster igniting all of its 33 Raptor 3 engines and ascending over the Gulf of America. During the initial climb to space, a single Raptor engine on the booster shutdown. The successful first-stage ascent was followed by a hot-staging maneuver and Starship’s upper stage igniting all six of its Raptor engines to continue onward to space.

Directional flip

Super Heavy performed its directional flip maneuver and relit 31 of the planned 33 Raptor engines for the boostback burn. The boostback maneuver on this flight was intentionally designed to burn through the remaining liquid oxygen inside the booster’s main tank to test the limits of booster performance ahead of future return to launch site missions.

The booster then reignited 11 of the planned 13 engines for the high-thrust portion of the landing burn before down-selecting to five engines for trajectory fine-tuning, and then down to three engines before splashing down in the Gulf.

Upon landing burn shutdown, the Super Heavy’s flight termination system was triggered in a demonstration of the safety hardware.

Loss of thrust

During Starship’s ascent burn, a single Raptor vacuum engine shut down early. Starship still achieved its planned, passively safe suborbital trajectory by burning its remaining five engines for longer than planned to compensate for the loss of thrust.

After entering its suborbital trajectory, the flight control team assessed Starship’s systems and determined the three sea-level Raptors engines needed for subsequent burns were healthy and gave a “go” for orbital operations.

Starship then reignited a single Raptor sea-level engine to perform an orbit insertion burn and entered into orbit around Earth for the first time.

Starlink deployments

After a brief coast, Starship then deployed all 26 Starlink V3 satellites.

Contact was made soon after with every satellite over laser links, ground stations, and Starlink user terminals. The satellites will now conduct on-orbit checkouts and raise their orbits before they begin serving customers.

Following payload deploy, Starship entered into a coast phase around Earth.

Abundance of caution

Out of an abundance of caution given the engine issue experienced during ascent, the flight control team decided to limit the duration spent on orbit and proceeded with deorbiting Starship to a splashdown location in the northern Pacific Ocean. This area was one of two pre-coordinated landing zones identified before launch that was cleared of sea and air traffic.

Starship then relit a single Raptor sea-level engine and performed its first ever deorbit burn.

That maneuver successfully brought the vehicle out of orbit and sent Starship through atmospheric reentry and descent to the intended splashdown point.

The first orbital Starship flight concluded with the vehicle relighting all three Raptor sea-level engines in a landing burn and flip maneuver before splashing down on target in the Pacific Ocean.

The SpaceX Starship Flight 14 onboard camera imaged an interesting, very high altitude “cloud-like” feature.

Is it associated with the launch…or?

Any ideas from readers, please advise.

Video replay at: https://x.com/SpaceX

 

This is a wait-a-minute collection of discussion regarding finding life on Mars.

A program from William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia took on the questions: Is there life outside of the Earth?

This is a fundamental question that will impact all areas of human knowledge and human understanding.

Two NASA Viking landers launched in 1975 successfully landed on the surface of Mars on July 20 and February 3, 1976.  Each Viking lander carried three life detection experiments to search for active life on Mars.  The two Viking landers are world’s first, and to-date, the only spacecraft to carry instrumentation to look for active life on the surface of Mars.

Viking results: discussed and debated 

The results of the Viking life detection experiments have been discussed and debated since they were obtained 50 years ago.

This series of presentations discussed the Viking Mission and the latest interpretation of the Viking life detection experiments and then outlined the U. S. plan for sending humans to Mars and returning them safely to Earth.

Featured speakers

Dr. Ellen Stofan: The Viking Legacy: 50 Years of Exploration

Tom Young: Viking Unanswered Questions

Gentry Lee: The Viking Legacy

Dr. Steven Benner: Why Viking More Likely Than Not Found Life on Mars and Why You Do Not Know That Already

Dr. Hans-Peter Biemann: Viking Witnessed Through the Lens of a High School Intern

Dr. Joel S. Levine: Planning for the Future of Mars Exploration: A Human Mission to Mars-Scientific Goals and Objectives

To watch this video, go to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp671-x-5cQ

 

Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX fame and fortune advises that stronger coordination between the United States and China could avoid potential satellite collisions, one area for bilateral space cooperation.

Musk was interviewed last week by the China Media Group (CMG) in Silicon Valley, California.

“In space I think the most important thing to achieve cooperation with is to make sure that when satellites are launched from the U.S. or China that we closely coordinate what orbits the satellites are going to avoid a potential collision. I mean that’s the most important area of cooperation,” Musk said.

Full and rapid reusability

Achieving “full and rapid reusability of a rocket” is a critical task in space launch, Musk added, because the technology can help drastically lower the cost of space exploration.

“In general I would say that the important thing for space launch, the fundamental breakthrough that’s needed, is full and rapid reusability,” said Musk.

SpaceX is hoping to achieve catching the Starship, “hopefully around the end of next month and then re-flying the ship either later this year or early next year.”

That will be a very important breakthrough, Musk said, and he is sure others will solve the reusability problem as well. “I’m sure China will at some point solve that problem too. The full and rapid reusability of a rocket is the fundamental breakthrough needed to make life multiplanetary,” said Musk.

Making life multiplanetary

Musk said that once human beings are able to build self-growing cities on other planets, their chances of surviving potential existential threats would be much greater.

“I can’t emphasize enough — and I’ve said this so many times over the years — full and immediate reusability of rockets, like aircraft, is the fundamental breakthrough that’s needed to extend life beyond Earth, to make life multiplanetary, and to create self-growing cities on the moon and Mars,” Musk told a CMG reporter, as posted by China Central Television (CCTV).

“And as soon as we are able to create a self-growing city on the Moon and Mars, the probable lifespan of consciousness is dramatically greater because now we don’t have all our eggs in one basket,” said Musk. Doing so, have human civilizations on the Earth, on the Moon and on Mars, “then our chances of surviving are much greater,” he said.

Video at:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1077686111722857

Commercial biotech research in microgravity got another boost by the expansion of an agreement between Exobiosphere and Voyager Technologies.

Two additional research campaigns will be carried out aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Exobiosphere’s Orbital High-Throughput Screening in Microgravity (OHTS) platform is a mid-deck-locker-class system for automated drug screening. The OHTS is scheduled for installation aboard the ISS in April 2027.

These two new campaigns — rather than a one-off opportunity — follow in quick succession: the first launching on an ISS Program Commercial Resupply Services mission in June 2027, the second in the August–September 2027 timeframe.

Samples, test compounds and consumables

According to Voyager, the Exobiosphere OHTS is designed to be resupplied. “Samples, test compounds and consumables are exchanged between campaigns, and the science configuration is adapted to each investigation.”

This single platform in orbit can support a sequence of independent research programs, with each campaign informed by the findings of the one before it.

Thousands of experiments

“Every campaign runs thousands of experiments on standardized well plates, each one mirrored by an identical control on the ground — so every orbital result arrives with the Earth comparison that makes it interpretable. Across successive campaigns, that produces something space biology has not had before: a growing, directly comparable body of actionable data,” a Voyager statement explains.

Under the agreements, Voyager Europe provides program management, ISS mission integration and mission provisioning for each campaign, including safety and verification to NASA Safety Review standards, manifesting on ISS Program Commercial Resupply Services vehicles, coordination of on-orbit operations and the return of samples to Earth.

Work is performed with Voyager’s affiliate Nanoracks LLC d/b/a Voyager Space Solutions, which handles final payload processing, NASA-required pre-flight preparations and console operations from its Houston-area facility.

For more information, visit these websites:

https://voyagertechnologies.com/

https://www.exobiosphere.com/

No need for a quick spray of Windex to get a clear view of this situation.

There’s a growing need for windows for rubbernecking space travelers, be it from suborbital hops, stays in Earth orbit and far-flung sojourns to the moon and beyond.

Retrofire back decades ago when the first Mercury space capsule offered a tiny porthole for its single seat occupant – Alan Shepard. Similarly, the first human in orbit, Soviet Yuri Gagarin, was supplied a small window to take in the view.

“We can’t just live in a box…just as plants and taking a shower play a critical role in human comfort, so do windows,” explains one specialist.

Sightseeing in space has meant an evolution of safe and sound windows and tackling the engineering challenges to produce them.

But what’s the outlook ahead for space voyagers?

For more details, go to my new Space.com story – “The future of spacecraft windows” – at:

https://www.space.com/space-exploration/human-spaceflight/the-future-of-spacecraft-windows-we-cant-just-live-in-a-box

The development of China’s Moon-landing spacesuit Wangyu, meaning “gazing into the cosmos,” is progressing smoothly, with dozens of key technologies now in place, said Zhang Wanxin, an expert at the Astronaut Center of China, at an aerospace medical engineering conference in Tianjin.

Since suit development began in 2020, efforts on Wangyu have focused on meeting the demands of complex lunar-surface operations and extreme environmental challenges, Zhang said, noting that the lunar spacesuit is designed to be lightweight, miniaturized, highly efficient and safe.

Bed rest experiment

Beyond spacesuit development, China is also advancing astronaut health research, having completed the “Dixing-3” bed rest experiment to address physiological protection challenges for long-term space stays and crewed lunar landing missions.

According to Qu Lina, a center expert, the experiment began in May this year. Volunteers were divided into different groups and spent 15 or 30 days in bed. During the experiment, they completed daily activities such as eating, washing, sleeping, urinating and defecating while lying in bed.

Results showed that the experiment effectively protects the human bone, muscle and cardiovascular systems, and it will provide technical support for long-term space stays and crewed lunar landing missions.

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is examining wind-formed, long, narrow, large ripples, even performing a wheel scuff on top of an undisturbed ripple.

Over the past several weeks, and after some 14 years exploring Gale Crater/Mt. Sharp, the Mars machinery has gained one kilometer of elevation since landing.

Here are some recently taken images of its ripple work.

 

Moon Base inhabitants take note of a newly discovered crater formed on the lunar surface, the largest, ever found in the solar system.

As noted by NASA, the crater has officially been named McGetchin after pioneering lunar scientist Tom McGetchin.

This crater formed on the Moon’s eastern edge sometime between April 11 and May 22, 2024, after a comet or asteroid the size of a three- to six-story building hit the surface.

The wallop of an impact developed a crater, 728 feet wide, the length of two football fields and is over 140 feet deep.

Catching his eye

The impactor was spotted by Robert Wagner, a scientist with NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). What caught his eye was an unusually large bright spot circled by a dark halo.

For more than 17 years, LRO has been circling the Moon and using its seven instruments to map the topography, surface composition, temperature, and radiation environment there.

According to NASA, researchers estimate that an impact of this magnitude happens on the Moon about once in a century or even longer.

SpaceX has posted an overview of the 14th flight of Starship. The mission is now being prepared for launch as soon as Monday, September 28, pending regulatory approval.

The 75-minute launch window will open at 7:15 a.m. Central “Texas” Time.

As noted by SpaceX, the upcoming flight is planned to be the first to send Starship into orbit around Earth. “Flight tests until this point have intentionally flown passively safe suborbital trajectories to maximize public safety while allowing for maximum learning. By going to orbit, the next phase of developing Starship to be fully and rapidly reusable can begin.”

Primary test objective

The booster’s primary test objective on Flight 14 will be executing a successful launch, ascent, stage separation, boostback burn, and landing burn at an offshore landing point in the Gulf of America.

“There have been several modifications to hardware and software to address issues seen on the previous flight,” explains SpaceX.

After stage separation and flip on the SpaceX Flight 13 last July, the Super Heavy booster was able to use all 33 engines on its boostback burn for the first time.

“In the terminal phase of the burn, the three center engines showed signs of ice clogging which triggered an early end to the maneuver. The booster went on to attempt a landing burn, with 8 of the 13 planned engines reigniting before the booster made a hard splashdown in the Gulf.

“The Super Heavy on this upcoming flight has hardware modifications to improve filtering to the engines and software changes to enhance relight reliability,” SpaceX adds.

Starlink deployments

This flight will also mark the first time SpaceX plans to deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites into the constellation, delivering a payload designed to expand connectivity speeds and reliability around the globe.

The Starship upper stage’s primary objectives include the first orbital insertion maneuver, the deployment of Starlink V3 satellites, a deorbit burn using a single Raptor engine while in space, and a controlled reentry, descent, and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Starlink V3 satellites aim to greatly expand the network’s capacity and user speeds. Each Starlink V3 satellite will add 1 terabits per second (tbps) of capacity to the constellation, for a total of 26 tbps of capacity added on this mission alone. That’s roughly 10x the capacity compared to a single launch of V2 mini Starlink satellites on Falcon 9.

Heatshield scans

After deploying from Starship, the Starlink V3 satellites will unfold their antennas and deploy their solar arrays and make initial contact with the ground and the rest of the Starlink constellation via radio frequency and laser links. The satellites will then begin raising their orbits with their onboard thrusters. Following their on-orbit checkouts, the satellites should begin serving customers as soon as a few weeks after launch.

“Three of the satellites have been modified with a suite of cameras to scan Starship’s heatshield and transmit imagery down to operators to continue testing methods of analyzing Starship’s heatshield readiness for return to launch site on future missions,” reports SpaceX.

Earth Orbits

SpaceX states that Starship will only execute a burn to enter orbit after the flight control team has ensured there is sufficient redundancy on hardware critical to doing the subsequent deorbit burn at the end of the mission.

Starship’s initial orbital mission is expected to fly at an altitude approximately 275 kilometers above Earth and complete approximately six orbits around the planet over the course of a nearly 10-hour flight.

Starship’s splashdown is targeted in the Pacific Ocean to the west of Chile.

Heatshield upgrades

SpaceX points to several upgrades and experiments related to Starship’s heatshield that will also be tested

Some improvements were derived directly from data gathered from the Flight 13 Starship as it floated in the Indian Ocean. They include additional retention mechanisms added to tiles in areas deemed to be at highest risk of falling off during ascent, addressing recently discovered areas that offer flow paths behind tiles for plasma, and flying multiple areas with a curved tile design that has shown the ability to reduce heating in the gaps between tiles.

Two tiles recovered from Ship 40 are planned to be reflown on Ship 41, marking the first tile reuse for Starship.

Live webcast

A live webcast of the flight will begin about 30 minutes before liftoff, which can be watched at https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-14 and on X @SpaceX.

“Coverage is planned to continue through splashdown, with the potential for hours of live views from Starship as it orbits Earth,” SpaceX states, adding that with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change, so keep an eye on the SpaceX account for updates.